Rail-anchor



LHAUPT RAIL ANCHOR.

APPLICATION FILED A RENEWED JUNE 23, 1921- 1,385,936. Patented ly 26, 1 1.

PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN WOLHAUPTER, OF NEW ROCHELLE, YORK.

BAIL-ANCHOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 26, 1921.

Application filed August 29, 1917, Serial No. 188,810. Renewed June 23, 1921. Serial No. 479,962.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN WoL- HAUPTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Rochelle, in the county of VVestchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Anchors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved rail anchor adaptable to rail bases of different widths.

A primary object. of the invention is to provide a rail anchor that is of very simple construction and economical to manufac-- ture, while at the same time, having the capacity to effectually prevent a rail from creeping in a longitudinal direction. Also the invention has in view a rail anchor held under adjustable spring pressure upon the base of the rail whereby the device may be so securely fastened in place as to effectually resist any tendency of displacement when brought against an abutment or tie by the creeping of the rail. In other words, a feature of the present invention, which is regarded as being of practical importance is that of providing a spring-clamp type'of rail anchor with adjusting means for varying the spring pressure or tension so that the trackman may readily obtain a proper and secure initial application of the anchor, as well as being enabled to readily and conveniently retighten the device from time to time as may. be necessary.

A further object of the invention is to embody the desirable improvements referred to in a spring-clamp type of anchor which is applied to the rail base transversely thereof and at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the rail. This provides for obtaining the distinct advanta e of an anchor in which the direction of c amping to the rail is different from the movement of the rail, asdistinguished from that type of rail anchors whose tie abutting member or members are disposed in a direction lengthwise of the rail, and which are susceptible of being loosened and rendered inefi'ective by be ing caught and held in frozen ground, and by other track conditions which will not ail'ect the improved anchor structure mounted in accordance with the present invention.

The essential features of the invention are necessarily susceptible of embodiment in different forms of construction, but for illustrative purposes certain preferred and practical embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a rail anchor constructed in accordance with the present invention and shown applied to the ase of a railroad rail.

Fig. 2 is a detail end view of that form of the anchor shown in Fig. 1 which is utilized in connection with a tensioning key or wedge.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the improved anchor shown applied transversely of the rail base, and illustrating a set screw form of tensioning device, as well as showmg by dotted and full lines the distortion gf the anchor body when applied to the rail ase.

Fig. 4 is a detail elevational view showing a modification of the invention embodying a dlfielllt form of lifting member and ten slomng device from that shown in the other figures of the drawings.

Like references designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In carrying the present invention into effect 1t 1s proposed to provide, fundamentally, a spring-clamp constructed to embrace the rail base transversely thereof and comb ned with a tensioning device. This tensiomng device is capable of adjustment and serves to place the entire bar under spring tension so that it may be held by a s ring clamping action firmly and positively 1n engagement with the rail, and will effectually maintain such engagement; regardless of traclr and load conditions, thereby providing a ra 1l anchor of maximum efliclency. Accordingly, the invention primarily and fundamentally includes in its organization two essential spring rail-base embracing member desi' nated 1 n its entirety by the letter A and a tensiomng device designated by the letter B and having the capacity, in combination with the rail and said member, to place the latter under strong spring tension so that it will be held in firm gripping engagement with the rail base.

Although the invention, in its essential aspects, is necessarily susceptible of structural modification, and available for use with different kinds of tensioning devices, the embodiments illustrated in the drawings will serve to indicate the novel and prac-' tical' features which constitute the imporand principal parts, namely, a'

tant parts of the invention. Referring now to these drawings it will'be observed that in all forms of the invention the rail-base embracing member A consists essentially of a spring body portion or bar 1 having formed at one end thereof a rail flange-engaging clip 2 and provided at its opposite end with a lifting member 3, with which lifting memspectively, connected by the bight 6, and

having an lnwardly convergent relation with an ample clearance space 7 therebetween. This construction of clip adapts it to rail bases of different width, and at the same time involves a formation which enables the clip not only to be readily slipped over the rail flange, but also placed under powerful spring tension which will cause both the upper and lower clip members to bind tightly respectively upon the upper and'lower sides of the rail flange, with the result of securely fastening or locking the clip upon the rail base in such a manner that it will constitute an effectual anchor to prevent creeping of the rail when the anchor is engaged with the tie as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

Referring further to the structural formation of the spring body portion or bar 1, in the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings, it will be observed that the lower clip member 5, has a substantial clearance from the lower outer edge of theadjacent rail flange, and at an intermediate point in its length, preferably adjacent the lower clip member 5 the spring bar is bowed upwardly .asat 8 to provide an upstanding fulcrum element which has a bindingand fulcrum engagement with the bottom of the rail asplainly shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings. From its intermediate upstanding fulcrum element 8 the spring bar is formed with a relatively long lever arm 9 divergently related to the lower clip member 5 and standing well off from the rail bottom and the outer edge of the adjacent rail flange. This lever arm 9, in the form of the Invention shown in Figs; 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings is formed integral with the end thereof opposite the fulcrum element 8, the aforesaid lifting member 3, which in this form of the invention consists of an inwardly bent loop which is spaced from the top and bottom of one of the flanges of the rail as well as from its outer edge and overlies the upper side of the rail flange. This upper overlying part .of the lifting member loop 3 is intended to have associated therewith the tensioning device B which may consist of any mechanical element capable of placing the entire bar under sufficiently strong tension to immovably bind the spring bar upon the rail base. A simple and desirable form of tensioning device is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings and consists of a plain wedge key adapted to be driven between the upper side of the rail flange and the overhangln part of the looped lifting member 3. he effect of driving such a wedge key tightly into the position referred to is to exert a strong lifting action on the lifting member 3, which in turn draws the lever arm 9 upwardly and thereby tends to rock the bar on the fulcrum element 8 against the binding pressure of the upper clip member 4 on the upper side of one of the rail flanges, and consequently, through these forces cause a secure bindin and fastening of the anchor upon the rail base. When desirable two wedge keys may be used. One driven in one direction and the other driven in the opposite direction on top of the rail flange.

The same result can be obtained by the use of the tensioning device shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, which consists of a set screw mounted in a threaded opening 10 tapped through the upper overhanging part of the looped lifting member 3, and by way of illustrating the range of expedients that may be resorted to in carrying forward the invention, there is shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings a form of construction wherein the spring lever arm 9 has formed therewith at one end a lifting member 3 having a threaded shank 3. In this construction the threaded shank-3 extends upwardly over one end of the lever arm 9 beyond the outer edge of the adjacent rail flange and receives thereon a tensioning device in the form of an ordinary nut 11 which is adjustably engaged with the shank 3 and has a binding engagement on to of the adjacent ra'il flange. It will be 0 served that the tighten ing of the .nut 11 produces precisely the spring clamping action which has been described in connection with the forms of the invention shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

It is preferable in the construction of the device to have the same"sprun slightly smaller than its rail engaging t, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figs. 3 and 4, so that when applied to the rail initially, it will be slightly distorted as indicated by the full lines in said figures so as to insure a firm engagement with the rail base; and, then by tightening the tensioning device this initial engagement is converted into a powerful spring gripping action which securely locks the anchor in place on the rail base. It will also be observed, particularly bv reference to Fig. 3 of the drawings, that the device is readily adaptable to rail bases of difl'erent'width as indicated by dotted lines in said figures of the drawings.

From the foregoing description it is thought that the construction and operation of the improved rail anchor will be readily apparent to those familiar with the art without further description, and it will be understood that changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

I claim A rail anchor comprising a spring bar upwardly bowed between its ends forming a and an adjusting device adjustably engaging the other arm of the spring bar and having a bearing engagement on the upper side of the opposite edge of the rail base.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN WOLHAUPTER.

Witnesses:

J. M. CoPPINeER, Enw. F. James. 

